The invention relates to suction-irrigation equipment.
The invention is more particularly concerned with suction-irrigation equipment for hand-held medical use, such as, of the kind used for cleaning wounds during surgery.
During surgery it is often necessary to drain and wash the site of a wound. This is usually accomplished by means of a hand-held suction irrigator that is easily manoeuvrable to direct irrigating fluid (such as sterile water or saline solution) onto the precise location and to remove unwanted substances in the same way. The previous equipment used for this purpose has two conduits that extend to its operating tip, one conduit being used for supply of irrigating fluid and the other for suction. One or both of the conduits may be continuously operating or the equipment may be provided with suitable valves so that the equipment may be used in a suction-only or irrigation-only mode. Examples of suction irrigators are described in UK patent specification No. 1 470 153 and UK patent application publication No. 2 058 576A.
Previous equipment can suffer from various disadvantages. One problem arises from the blockages that can often be caused by matter collecting in the suction conduit. These blockages can be difficult to remove and may make it necessary to replace equipment. Obviously this is to be avoided, especially during surgery where the equipment may be urgently needed. Also, if the suction conduit is brought too close to loose tissue this will be sucked towards the tip of the conduit and, while it may not be drawn into the conduit it can be held at the tip, even if the suction conduit is subsequently cut off from the suction source. Removal of the tissue would be achieved by pulling the equipment away from it until the force is sufficient to overcome the residual vacuum in the conduit. It will be appreciated that this can cause damage and injury to the patient. However, it could be useful to be able to use the suction conduit for picking up and transferring tissue or other matter if it could be removed readily. Up to now this has not been possible.
Other disadvantages of previous equipment arise from the fact that suction and irrigation are carried out through separate conduits. The provision of two separate conduits renders the forward end of the equipment rather bulky and can make it difficult to position in confined regions. The fact that the tips of the suction and irrigation conduits are necessarily spaced from one another also can be a disadvantage since this makes it necessary to move the tip if it is desired to remove fluid following irrigation.